Envisioning a world in which every young musician is given the opportunity to succeed

Peirce began his violin studies at the age of three at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. Now 14, he studies viola with Kerri Ryan, assistant principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

During the summer of 2016, Peirce was selected to represent the United States as one of 80 middle school students from around the world at a two-week leadership program at the International School of Karuizawa, Japan. He participates in the Kimmel Music Center’s Showstoppers program where he receives training in theater, music, and dance technique. He is an alumnus of Schoolyard Ventures, a program that trains middle and high school students to develop their own entrepreneurial ideas. He studies Mandarin with a tutor at the University of Pennsylvania and looks forward to the day he can speak the language fluently.

During the summer of 2017, he was honored to be a part of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra - 2 (NYO2) program. He also attended a viola workshop at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, and attended the Sphinx Performance Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music for the second year. In November 2016, as a member of Sphinx Performance Academy’s Perfect Fourth Quartet, he performed for First Lady Michelle Obama and other dignitaries at the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. In January 2017, Perfect Fourth was invited to perform at the NAMM Music Festival in Anaheim, California. In 2016, Peirce’s Settlement Music School trio placed second at the Satori String competition and he was the runner-up at the 2016 Bucks County Youth Competition. He is a Primavera Artist and a Marian Anderson Foundation grant recipient. He is in 9th grade.

A current member of the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, Peirce has performed in the Trowbridge Orchestra at Settlement Music School and the Delaware County Youth Orchestra. At Settlement, he is a member of The Sounds of Young Philadelphia and has performed at local schools, libraries, and events throughout the community. Through a partnership with Settlement and Project 440, Peirce conducted educational sessions for local elementary school students. He participated in the Baroque Orchestra at Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, played in PRYSM Young Artists, and attended Luzerne Music Center during the summers of 2014 and 2015.